The invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Ruellia simplex plant named ‘R16-1-1’. ‘R16-1-1’ is an F1 seedling from a manual hybridization conducted on Feb. 15, 2015, at the Environmental Horticulture Research Greenhouses (EHRG), University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville, Fla., between female parent ‘R14-4x-PK1’ (UF proprietary clone, not patented; tetraploid, red-purple flowers) x male parent ‘R14-2x-PK1’ (UF proprietary clone, not patented; diploid, red-purple flowers). Ploidy level determinations were done by flow cytometry at UF using wild R. simplex as a diploid (2n=2x=34) control and ‘Purple Showers’ (commercial cultivar, not patented) as a tetraploid control. ‘R16-1-1’ is below the diploid level, so it appears to be an aneuploid, originated from haploid parthogenesis in the tetraploid material parent and had loss of one or more chromosomes (2n=2x−?=34−?).
‘R16-1-1’ has been reproduced asexually for over one year through vegetative cuttings (stem tip cuttings) and has been shown to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
‘R16-1-1’ has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing date of this application.